Dinitz Meets with Kissinger for Clarification on Phantom Jet Sale

Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz called yesterday on Dr. Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s national security advisor, to express his country’s concern about the sale of F-4 Phantom jets to Saudi Arabia. According to sources here, the action by Dinitz did not constitute a protest against Washington’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia for Phantoms but an effort to seek clarification on the sale. Sources also reported that Dr. Kissinger would pass the Ambassador’s observations on to Nixon and promised a reply.

The meeting between Dinitz and Dr. Kissinger was part of the on going high-level contacts between Israel and the United States since reports disclosed that the U.S. is planning large-scale arms sales to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Dinitz had been instructed by the Israeli government to seek full details from the State Department on the quality and quantity of American arms going to the Arab states. Last week Dinitz also met with Assistant Secretary of State Joseph J. Sisco. On Thursday the State Department said that U.S. sales of military hardware to the Persian Gulf oil-rich Arab states takes “fully into account our long-standing policy of support of Israel’s security.

Paul J. Hare, a Department spokesman, said that the U.S. “will not make any military sales that would put Israel’s security into jeopardy.” He declined to provide details on the sales but noted that this was not a sudden reaction to new problems but a continuation of the U.S. policy “to encourage Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and smaller states in the area to cooperate with one another to insure the security of the area.” He said this policy was initiated when Britain withdrew from the Persian Gulf in 1968. A senior U.S. Administration official reportedly said the sale of Phantom jets would take a year to complete and another year or two before the planes were delivered.